The present disclosure relates to a system for separating a mixture of two fluid phases. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a system including an apparatus configured for reducing blockage in a port of a fluid separator, such as a hydrocyclone.
In oil production processes and in drilling operations, a fluid stream including a mixture of oil and water is often recovered, necessitating fluid separation of the oil and water phases of the fluid stream prior to disposal or downstream processing. In some applications, deoiling hydrocyclones are employed to provide a compact and time-efficient apparatus for separating at least a portion of the water and oil phases of the fluid stream. Hydrocyclone separators typically comprise a chamber having a cylindrical portion coupled to a frustoconical portion, and generally operate by converting pressure energy into velocity as a fluid mixture of water and oil enters the hydrocyclone through a tangential inlet. The tangential inlet flow causes the fluid inside the hydrocyclone to spin or rotate therein, creating a centrifugal force that multiplies the natural buoyancy of small oil droplets. Because those oil droplets have a lower density relative to water, the water and oil phases of the inlet fluids stream may be separately extracted from the hydrocyclone; the water is extracted via a clean water outlet while the oil is extracted via a waste reject outlet. In some applications, the waste reject outlet of the hydrocyclone includes a relatively small orifice that is susceptible to blockage via particulates and other debris suspended in the waste reject stream. Thus, it is necessary to periodically unblock the orifice of the waste reject outlet to ensure the efficacy of the hydrocyclone in substantially separating the water and oil phases of the inlet fluid stream.